Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
by DeepDownSlytherin
Summary: Ted and Andromeda have always thought of themselves as fairly openminded parents, so how will they react to their daughter's new romance? HBP Spoilers
1. Coincidence

_I've been thinking about this short little fic since I finished HBP…how would Ted and Andromeda react to their daughter's new romance? The title I took from a **fabulous** Katherine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy_ _film, which you should totally rent if you haven't seen. It's one of Spencer Tracy's last ones, and a really interesting look at race and prejudice, so I thought it might be apt for the prejudice against werewolves in Rowling's world, as well as an anti-muggle-born sentiment Andromeda and Ted probably faced._

**Chapter 1- Coincidence**

"Andy..."

I ignored him, mostly because I knew what he was going to say, we'd been through it all before.

"Andy, you're stalking her."

"I am doing no such thing! I am merely running some errands in Diagon Alley, and should I happen to run into our daughter, well, that would be quite a coincidence."

"She's a big girl Andy. She's an adult. She's an Auror. You can't follow her around and make sure she's okay..."

He had a lot of nerve lecturing me! This from the man who scared off every boy she ever dared to let us meet, which was not many. Who lobbied for her to take a Ministry desk job because it was safer than Auror training. Who still dropped by her apartment periodically to make sure the locks and spells were sound. And he called me over-protective?

But I was worried, and Ted didn't fool me, he was worried too. As much as he might argue that she was an adult, and a capable one, Nymphadora was not herself, and hadn't been for months. I didn't want to push her, but it seemed to be getting worse rather then better. I had thought, at first, it was an extreme reaction to Sirius's death. She had been there, and naturally it had been a shock. But I never would have expected her to be so affected by it. It should be harder for those of us who still remembered him as a laughing little boy and a Hogwarts heartthrob, while to her, aside from some childhood memories, he was just the tortured man who had escaped Azkaban.

It had been over a year since then, and I no longer thought it was only that. She was unhappy, and with the events only a few weeks past, and the wizarding world still reeling from the death of Albus Dumbledore, and she was working such terribly long hours- well, what kind of mother would I be if I wasn't worried?

"And no doubt your errands will coincidentally take you by her office and her apartment and anywhere else you think she might be, until you find her?" Ted went on.

I shrugged as I fastened my cloak. "Well, coincidence is the damnedest thing Ted..."

* * *

She looked better. A lot better, I thought, as I stepped off the elevator into the Auror Headquarters, which coincidentally was right on my way to Arthur Weasley's office. I had borrowed a book from his wife some months before, and I had been meaning to return it. At least, that was the excuse I was using. 

Of course, she had her back to me, so the only way I could tell she looked better was that she was going with purple that day for her hair, which was halfway down her back and a spot of bright color in the otherwise dull institutional office look the Ministry cultivated. Whereas most mothers would probably be a bit horrified if their daughter turned up with purple hair, I now took it in stride...she'd never been one to conform. Neither had I, for that matter.

She was talking to Kingsley. I've always liked the man, I think he's got a calming influence on her, and he saw me over her shoulder and smiled. Nymphadora turned, and looked, well...mortified. I suppose when you're an Auror, and in your mid-twenties, having your Mummy stop by to check on you at work is hardly impressive to your boss and co-workers. But then it's her own fault, if she'd just owl me more often I wouldn't have to worry.

While she tried to disappear, Kingsley came over and gripped my hand warmly.

"How are you Andromeda? How's Ted?"

"We're both well, doing very well. How are you holding up?"

"It's been busy times, but I'm doing just fine."

"Well, we haven't seen you in ages. I know you're busy but you really must come to dinner some time soon."

Nymphadora cleared her throat, and Kingsley gave me a wink. "Good seeing you Andromeda, I may just take you up on that dinner offer."

"Mum, what are you doing here?" she asked as soon as he was gone, looking a little desperate.

"Not what you think, I was dropping off a book for Arthur Weasley."

She didn't find that any more plausible than Ted had.

"But since I'm here anyway, why don't I take you to lunch?" I went on, transparently. "You've lost weight, are you even remembering to eat?"

She sighed, and then gave in. "Okay, but _I'm_ taking _you_ to lunch."

_That's my girl.

* * *

_

I refuse to call my daughter by her surname. That's fine for her co-workers, but not her mother. After all, I gave her the name. I suppose it is an…unusual…choice. It's a family name, because I think it's good to remember where you're from, even if just to remind yourself how far you've come. Given my history, Ted was surprised when I wanted to give her a family name. Well, perhaps "surprised" doesn't adequately describe choking on his coffee and then staring at me with his mouth open before collapsing into hysterical laughter. I didn't speak to him for a good three days until he apologized. He's always called her Dora, and so did most of her Hogwarts friends. A good compromise.

"How's Dad?" she asked once we were seated at a small restaurant filled with Ministry staffers on lunch. They all looked busy, distracted, and overwhelmed, just like she did. And yet while I had expected to find her almost falling apart, she looked far better than she had in a year. She was still a bit too thin, a bit too pale, as though coming off a long illness. And yet she seemed her old self. She smiled again, and the smile reached to her eyes, she moved lightly again, there was a spark back in her eyes. Obviously, she wasn't having any trouble with morphing anymore. She hadn't mentioned she was having trouble of course, but I could tell, she hadn't had brown hair since she learned to change it.

"He's all right, busy at work. Tired. Worried about you."

She gave me an exasperated look. "Mum, _really_, I'm _fine_."

"I know, you _look_ fine. In fact, you look ten times better than you did two weeks ago."

She became suddenly fascinated by the silverware. "It's been kind of a weird year. We're practically in open war. People are dying, disappearing…"

She was right, but that didn't explain her sudden turnaround.

"Actually though," she was still entirely focused on the table, as though she had never seen a fork before. "There was something I wanted to mention to you and Dad."

I waited. Like my family, and like Ted, she's never been one for personal conversations.

"I've kind of…been…seeing someone."

And in that moment it all became clear, and I wanted to both laugh and cry. It wasn't the war or her job…she was in love.

She had dated before certainly, but never anything serious. At least, nothing serious enough to merit admitting it to her mother. But I knew better than to embarrass her, to cry or hug her or do anything else so silly, so I sipped my water and pretended to be entirely unsurprised by her news.

"Well, do I get to know the name of this lucky young man?"

She blushed, creating an interesting contrast to her hair. "Well, I do want you and Dad to…meet him."

That was definitely a new departure. "Well, you could always invite him over to dinner. I'll make sure Dad behaves himself."

She smiled. "Thanks, Mum."

* * *

For someone who grew up with a full staff of house elves, it sometimes amazes me how domestic I've become. Despite that, I've never learned to like cooking, so Ted cooks, and I wash up. But as I told him about my lunch with our daughter, his attention was definitely not on the task at hand. 

"Who's she bringing…?" he repeated, as the knife he was directing to chop vegetables got to the end of the cutting board and clattered on the floor. He tossed it in the sink and grabbed a clean one from the drawer.

"Some boy…_man_, I mean…she's seeing."

"She's seeing someone?"

"She's not a nun, Ted."

"I know that," he retorted. "It's just…you know. Do you think it's serious?"

I perched on the counter, well out of the range of the erratic knife.

"Well…when she was living at home we practically had to imperius her just to have the boy pick her up here. And this time I didn't even have to ask, she suggested it. That's something."

He was muttering under his breath.

"I seem to remember _someone_, just this morning, telling me she was a big girl, she could take care of herself…" I said airily. He gave me a look.

"This is different Andy," he explained seriously. "Who knows what this man's intentions are." He tipped the cutting board into a pan. "Dora is very young, after all."

"We were married and had her by the time we were her age."

He grimaced at that. "I just wish she wouldn't date until…you know…I'm dead."

"That might be expecting a bit much. You look pretty healthy to me." I set down my glass of wine and slid down off the counter to put my arms around his waist. "You will be nice, right?"

He sighed heavily.

"Ted? You will be nice to Dora's boy, right?"

Another heavy sigh, then, "Fine."


	2. Surprise Guest

_A note about timelines: I realize the age difference between Remus and Tonks is somewhere around 15 years. So for Andromeda to be the same age as Remus, she would have to have been pregnant at Hogwarts, which, despite the popularity of Ginny and Hermione teen pregnancy fics, I don't see. In my other story I made them the same age as Sirius because I wanted to play the Black cousins off of each other, but for the purposes of this fic, let's assume Ted and Andromeda are a bit older, but were still at school some of the same time._

_I know these chapters are short. It's not meant to be an epic._

**Chapter 2- Surprise Guest**

Looking through moldy old documents taken from the vaults of old families might not be most people's idea of a romantic evening, but such was the life Nymphadora Tonks led. She actually liked it that way; she'd never been one for flowers and candlelight dinners. Although tonight she was having trouble concentrating on her search for any mention of horcruxes. The source of her distraction was sitting only inches away on the couch. He didn't appear to be having any trouble focusing, but that was probably because she hadn't told him yet. She wondered how best to bring it up delicately.

"We'rehavingdinnerwithmymumanddadfriday."

Or she could skip the delicate part and just blurt it out. He looked up and blinked at her, and so she repeated it again, with spaces between the words. He still didn't look entirely convinced.

"When was this planned?"

"I had lunch with my Mum today. Which is to say, she showed up at my office unannounced, and she couldn't even come up with a decent excuse…"

He cut off what might have become a full-blown rant about mothers with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"And you told her?"

"Well, it's not like they _plan_ dinner if it's just _me_…" she said slowly, pretending to not understand what he meant and stalling for time.

"Let me rephrase…you told your mother you were bringing someone for dinner. Did you tell her it was me?"

She bit her lip. "I'm not sure that your name came up exactly…"

He groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Dora!"

"Well, she cornered me! I had it all planned the best way to explain it but she took me off-guard! It won't matter," she added quickly. "They'll like you!"

"I know they will," he said through his hands. "And do you know how I know? Because I know your parents. We were at school the same time."

"Really?" She looked as though that had never occurred to her. "Did you know them well?"

"Well, they were in different houses, and a little older, but everyone knew the Black girls, and everyone knew Ted fancied her. Besides, Sirius was over all the time after he graduated, even when you were little, and sometimes, I was with him. Believe me Dora, they know me."

"Well good," she said with false brightness. "You already know you get on." She squeezed his arm. It's Mum and Dad, they'll be fine. Mum can't be rude, it's genetically programmed by Granny Black's course in learning etiquette through negative reinforcement. And when it really comes down to it she can keep Dad in line."

* * *

"Wait! Andromeda!" 

I heard someone call my name as I was leaving Flourish and Blotts and turned to find Molly Weasley hurrying after me from the direction of the shop her twin boys had started. They were making a killing in Diagon Alley. I paused and waited for her to catch up.

"I'll walk with you back to The Leaky Cauldron. It's hardly safe to walk alone anymore," she said.

"How's the wedding planning going?" I asked her, she sighed and shook her head, looking flustered at the very mention of it.

"It's a job, I tell you. Of course I couldn't be more pleased, Fleur is a sweet girl…once you get to know her. But with all her family coming in, trying to get it all organized…invitations, and centerpieces, and napkins…"

She didn't fool me, I knew she was loving it. The first of her children to get married. I remembered when Bill Weasley was born…it was enough to make a person feel old.

"Well, you never know, you might be planning a wedding before long as well…"

I stopped dead, for a moment speechless with shock.

"Oh, there's Ron and Ginny! I told them to wait inside, honestly! Oh, do call me soon Andromeda, we don't see nearly enough of you and Ted." She embraced me quickly, and then hurried off to reprimand her two youngest children. I was still standing there, trying to process her offhand comment. Planning a wedding? Dora's relationship was that serious? And why did Molly Weasley know when I didn't?

* * *

"Andy, the house is perfectly clean," he said patiently. 

Ted still had a fancy for muggle sports, and was reading the sport section of the muggle newspaper. It was just one of the odd things one learned to accept in marrying a man who had spent part of his childhood in the muggle world. I couldn't understand the attraction of a sport where no one flew and the ball didn't move on its own, but he still followed muggle football.

"We don't want Dora's young man to think we're slobs," I said pointedly. Ted does tend to be a bit messy, and I was used to it. Since Nymphadora had moved out as soon as she finished school it was much easier to manage, but I shuddered to think what her apartment looked like. She cleaned it up when she knew I was coming over, but I'd caught her off guard a few times. She was so adorably like him.

"If "Dora's young man" has a problem with it he can sod off," he growled. It was not the first comment like that he had made over the past week, and every time I reminded him of his promise. And I hadn't told him about my conversation with Molly Weasley. I wanted to see what kind of boyfriend we were dealing with before I tried to broach that subject. Secretly, he still thinks she's about ten years old.

"You promised to be nice."

"Mhm," he replied noncommittally.

"Perhaps you'll like him."

He raised a skeptical eyebrow at me over the paper. "When have I ever liked one of Dora's boyfriends?"

"There was that nice boy she was seeing the summer between her sixth and seventh year…"

"The one with the _nose ring_?"

"No, that was after seventh year. Besides she only went out with that one once…"

"If this one has a nose ring he's not coming in the house."

"I think she's past that phase. Besides, I wonder if that one was just to mess with your head…"

"I'm not wearing a tie."

"Nor did I tell you to. It's meant to be "casual." We don't want to scare the poor boy. I wonder if it's someone from work. Another Auror I mean. There's that nice looking young man with the blond hair."

"Dora doesn't always go for pretty boys…"

The bell sounded, and we looked at each other.

"Remember-" I began, he folded up the paper and then held up a hand like he was taking an oath.

"I'll be nice."

I pulled open the door, Ted nearly falling over my shoulder to get a look at the boy, but we were both surprised. Remus Lupin was on the front step. I hadn't seen him since before Sirius had died, but I had always liked him. He used to come over sometimes with Sirius, they'd been in the same tightly knit group of friends. He was a nice contrast to Sirius's recklessness. I knew, from offhand comments here and there, that he had been working with Dumbledore on something top secret. I hear more than most people would think.

"Remus! Well, this is a surprise! We weren't expecting you."

"You have no idea how true that is Andromeda," he said dryly. Before I could wonder what he meant by that, I noticed Dora standing behind him, looking rather panicked.

"Well, come in, come in. I do hope nothing's wrong. We're just expecting a friend of Dora's for dinner, but since you've stopped by you absolutely must stay. You're practically family, after all."

"Mum…" Dora began.

"Oh come Darling, the more the merrier, right?"

"But Mum…"

"Nymphadora." It doesn't matter how old a child is, the full name said in _that_ tone always works. "Now, while we're waiting for Dora's young man, can I offer you a drink?"

"Mum!" Dora said again, sharply enough that I turned to look at her. "We're not waiting for anyone."

"Ha, cancelled, did he? Well, that fig-Ow!" Ted shut up as I elbowed him in the ribs.

"Is your…er…friend not coming Honey?"

She looked, if possible, even more panicked than she had when she'd come in.

"No, he's coming. But he's already here."

I glanced around the small entrance hall- myself, Ted, Dora, and Remus. I hadn't missed anyone coming in. Had she finally cracked under the stress? Then I noticed Dora. Or rather, I noticed that Dora's hand was resting on Remus's arm in a gesture that was both possessive and restraining, as though she thought he might bolt. Come to notice, he actually looked a little like he might do just that. You don't grow up in the Black family without learning to read body language, and then I got it.

"Oh hell. I think we might all need a drink."

* * *

"WHAT!" 

"Ted, don't yell!"

With a particular sort of cluelessness particular to fathers of young women, he had continued to not catch on until finally to save everyone some embarrassment I'd asked to have a word with him in the kitchen. That had the added benefit of giving everyone a moment to recover.

"But…but…how…what…I mean…bloody hell Andy, he's _our_ age."

"Nearly."

"But…I…how…what are we going to do?"

"Well, I guess we should see what they have to say for themselves."

"I would have preferred the nose ring."


	3. Lucky

_Last chapter of this little fic._ _Hope it was fun to read, since it was fun to write._

**Chapter 3- Lucky**

_Damn_.

Remus didn't use profanity often, even in thought, but in this case it pretty much summed up what he was thinking. He said nothing out loud, but Dora apparently read his mind, and turned from gazing nervously at the kitchen door her parents had disappeared through. She gave him a sunny smile.

"Don't worry about Dad. He's just not getting what he doesn't want to. Mum calls it being selectively dense. It's not to do with you…he's like that with any guy…" she trailed off, and then started up brightly again. "Mum took it awfully well."

He gave her a startled look. He wouldn't call nearly fainting "awfully well."

"Oh, c'mon," she said giving his shoulder a cheerful shove. "You were best mates with Sirius. You've _seen_ the Black temper. You would know if she was angry. They don't trouble to hide it."

Remus had to admit that was true, the Black temper involved shouting, and breaking things and curses flying. Dark curses. If Andromeda's temper was anything like her cousin's, he didn't want it directed at him. Actually, neither of them had made any attempt to curse him yet, and that, at least, was encouraging.

That optimistic thought was interrupted by Ted shouting "_WHAT_?" from the kitchen and Dora winced.

"Right, well at least he's figured it out."

* * *

The moment Ted and I emerged from the kitchen commenced one of the most awkward silences I have ever experienced. It would definitely make the top five most awkward silences of my life. In fact, it was probably second only to the awkward silence following my announcement to my family that I was going to marry Ted. 

"Dora, breathe," I finally suggested, since she clearly wasn't, and having her pass out wasn't going to help the situation any. "Why don't we all have a seat?"

There, that was good. And I was completely out of things to say. Well, completely out of polite things that did not begin with "What the _Hell_...?" I looked at Ted for guidance, but he was no help, still looking faintly hopeful, as though he thought they were about to confess it was all a big joke.

"I'm sorry Remus, you must think us incredibly rude, but if Nymphadora had been a little more...forthcoming..." She cringed and sank down in her seat, whether from my use of her full name or the reprimand I didn't care. "Well, you must see we really weren't expecting this."

"I understand completely Andromeda, and that's my fault. I've been fairly reticent about...discussing this."

"For good reason," remarked Ted, under his breath. I kicked him.

"How did this start?" I began, and then remembered Molly Weasley's comment. "_When_ did this start?"

They exchanged a look I couldn't read. Just where did he get off _looking_ at my baby like that? Like they had some kind of connection?

"It's been in working for Dumbledore, Mum," she answered.

"Two years?"

"Well, no, I mean…we've been working for Dumbledore for two years, but it's only been in the last year…"

The last year, the year that she's been so unhappy, so lethargic and depressed. That in itself was enough to tell me it had not been a smooth romance.

"Darling, you know we want you to be happy, but you can't blame us for worrying, the last year has obviously been…difficult…for you."

"You can't blame Remus for that," Dora protested.

"I reckon I can manage," muttered Ted, under his breath again. I made to kick him again but he moved his leg out of the way. His reflexes have gotten quite good over the years.

"No, you should blame me for that," Remus said firmly. "I've known how Dora feels for some time, and I was trying to push her away. I felt…I still sometimes do…that she deserves more. Someone younger, someone who can give her everything, who will never be a danger to her…"

This was apparently not a new issue, since Dora scowled as he spoke.

She began something about "I've said a million times…" but I wasn't really listening to her, because I had only just processed something he had said- "be a danger to her."

I can't say I remembered Remus Lupin well from Hogwarts. He had been among Sirius's group of friends, but aside from the showy James Potter they had all rather blended together in my mind, as wrapped up as I was in those days in the emotional tug-of-war between Ted and my sisters. I did remember him well as Sirius's mate after they had graduated, when Sirius used to stop by to play with Dora, or perhaps just to feel like he had a family. Remus had always been quiet and polite. I suppose that's why we were both surprised when it came out that he had resigned a teaching position at Hogwarts when someone "inadvertently" revealed he was a werewolf. I had never met anyone else who was a werewolf, that I knew of, but he seemed entirely different from what I had unconsciously imagined. The only other one I'd heard much about was Fenrir Greyback, and that's not something you want to welcome into the family.

I glanced at Ted, and saw the same realization in his face. Dora, on the other hand was getting herself nicely worked up without any help from us.

"Dora, you can't simply dismiss those concerns," Ted said, looking a good deal more pleased at the prospect that Remus was actually on his side.

"I haven't dismissed them, I've spent the last year trying to make him understand that I _don't care_," she replied hotly.

"The reason I'm bringing them up now is so that you understand that I…we…didn't just dismiss them," Remus said patiently. "But in the end, I want her to be happy."

"I think that's what we all want," Ted said in a perfectly calm voice. "But Dora is very young."

"Dad, I'm not a child."

"No, but you can't ignore the age difference, or lycanthropy."

"I'm not ignoring it. I know the risks."

"And do you know what people are going to say? Can you handle how people are going to treat _you_, Dora? Not just Remus."

"I don't care," she said stubbornly.

"That's because you're not thinking ahead. Not everyone at the Ministry is going to be particularly open-minded. Have you considered your career? And if you think it won't have an effect, then ask your Mother."

"Ted," I began. "This is not about us…"

"No, Andy, she needs to realize that not everyone is going to accept that love conquers all."

"I would think you of all people would understand that," she snapped.

"Nymphadora…"

"May I say something?" Remus broke in quietly, and when no one objected, went on. "You should be proud, that Dora is so dismissive of the prejudices most people still cling dearly to. That's not only a credit to your values, but a credit to your raising her to think for herself. But she's not stupid, and she's not naïve."

Ted was shaking his head, and stood up then restlessly. "Remus, I like you. Always have. But liking you as Sirius's mate is a much different thing than liking you as Dora's…" he seemed to search for an appropriate word, and failed find one he liked, so he went on. "I don't want to see her get hurt."

"Dad, look at me," she said simply. He did, and I saw what she meant. After many months of looking at her and seeing her tired and gaunt and unable even to morph, it lifted my heart to see her with a smile, with the deep circles under her eyes gone, and with her hair a riot of pink ringlets. Ted blinked at her for a moment, and then nodded. He went on pacing, trying another route.

"Are you sure you're not rushing into this? There's a war, the world is uncertain. That leads people to do crazy things."

"Crazy things like… eloping at seventeen?" I suggested.

Remus smiled at me, and Dora stifled a laugh, making a most unladylike snorting sound. Ted froze for a beat, looked at me, and then started to laugh.

"Touché, Love, touché." He pressed my shoulder fondly, and then turned back to Remus. "Do you love her?"

"Yes, Sir."

"All right," Ted held out a hand. "But please never call me "Sir" again. It freaks me out."

The tension seemed to break, or at least to lessen, and I hugged Dora.

"If she makes you as happy as her mother has made me, you're a lucky man."

"I know how lucky I am."

* * *

"I was _exceptionally_ nice," Ted announced as soon as they had gone, watching them make their way down the front path to the street. "Why don't they just apparate?" 

I shrugged. "You know, a beautiful walk, a warm summer night…who knows where it might lead?"

"Rather not think about it."

"Oh please, you saw how he looked at her."

"Andromeda, don't make me go after them and kick his ass."

"Oh stop," I kissed his cheek. "You like him."

"I'll get used to it," he admitted. "As long as he doesn't get a nose ring."


End file.
